THE INSIDER AUTHORITY ON GATOR SPORTS

Gators vs. Georgia Post Game Quotes

Coach Meyer: “Today was a great effort by our defense. They held a talented Georgia team and their tremendous young
quarterback to only 215 yards of offense. Our defense played very hard tonight.”

On the lack of throwing the deep ball:

“They played a soft coverage and it is hard to throw it down field when you see the soft coverage. We called some plays down field, but (Chris) Leak saw four defenders deep and had to check down. We need to establish the run and protect our quarterback to open the gaps downfield.”

On freshman Brandon James:

“He is a tremendous and dynamic player. He was able to get a punt into the end zone. Unfortunately, the play was nullified by a silly penalty.”

On the captains for the game:

“We selected the guys based on being from Jacksonville. (Kenneth) Tookes, (Marcus) Thomas, and Reggie (Lewis) were all from Jacksonville and the coaches felt it was appropriate to select them as captains for this game.”

On the SEC East race:

“We are officially in the hunt for the SEC East title. We need to get our mistakes fixed this week and then get out there and beat Vanderbilt next week.”

On the Andre Caldwell’s battle back from injury:

“Andre has turned into a primo player. He is tremendous and dynamic when he gets the ball. As a coaching staff, we work hard to find ways to get the ball in his hands.”

On DeShawn Wynn’s limited playing time:

“He did not play for three- and-a-half quarters, but he got in my face and told me to get him the ball. In the past I probably would not have listened to him, but he has proved to me I can trust him. He has been banged up lately and was not at 100 percent. This next week it will be a main focus of ours to get him the ball more.”

Senior Quarterback Chris Leak

On the seniors being 3-1 against Georgia: “We’re proud and happy to be part of the Florida-Georgia rivalry. We had two great weeks of practice and the guys came out and played hard.”

On the offensive problems: “There are going to be momentum shifts. As a team and as leaders, you have to make sure everybody stays focused and keeps playing through those shifts and get back on track and try to get the momentum go back your way. We have a lot of talent on this team. We just have to keep getting the ball to the right guys and let guys go make plays.”

On Junior WR Andre Caldwell: “When Andre is able to play fast, a guy with his speed puts a lot of pressure on the defense and makes them have to cover the entire field. The safety on the touchdown tried to double Dallas and Bubba came open and slipped past the linebacker and I found him in a hole. He did a great job breaking the tackle and getting into the end zone.”

Freshman Quarterback Tim Tebow

On the offense: “We’ll have to sit down and watch the film to figure it out. We’ll just work it out and execute, buckle down and fix it.”

On the penalties: “It gets loud and that may have something to do with it. I try to concentrate and just keep playing our plan.”

On the defense: “They played phenomenal. They shut Georgia down and played a great game.”

Junior Wide Receiver Andre Caldwell

On his game performance: “I’m back and ready to play ball. I’m out here making plays and trying to help my team. I got everything back, confidence and all. ”

On the possibility of playing for a SEC Championship: “It hasn’t happened in a long time. It feels good that we might be playing for a championship. We have a lot of improvement to make though. We’ll go week-by-week.”

Junior Cornerback Ryan Smith

On the offense struggling: “When we see the offense struggling, we (the defense) know we have to put it in another gear. I made a couple of plays here and there, but being around the ball is always good.”

On the team’s confidence: “Our confidence is increasing with each game, but we knew from the start we had a good defense.”

Georgia head coach Mark Richt

“We couldn’t get a whole lot going offensively in the first half. But in the second half we turned it around. They missed a field goal and we got some points on the board but just couldn’t get it done. Some things happened that hurt us. The punt that touched our blocker gave them the ball and we lost momentum. Even on that last stop we got a face mask.

“It comes down to this; we turned it over five times again and you just won’t beat anyone doing that. “I don’t feel good about this. I don’t enjoy losing to the Gators. But I will say this, when most teams would lie down and die, this team didn’t. We’ve got some guys with great character. I’m proud of them and proud to be a Bulldog.”

#7 Matthew Stafford, QB

“I am proud of the way our team played today and how we fought back. We had some unlucky bounces late in the game, but we played hard. Our defense did a great job today and they kept us in the ballgame. I am proud of everyone’s effort today.”

“We only had the ball one time while we were down 21-14 and we did not capitalize on it.”

(Thoughts on Florida Defense): “Florida has a great defense. They were fresh early on and they were able to make some plays. (Reggie) Nelson is a ballhawk in the secondary, so we definitely had to keep an eye out for him. They are a great defensive unit that sometimes gets overshadowed because of their offense.”

#8 Paul Oliver, DB

(On defensive performance in the second half): “We made some adjustments during the half and fixed a couple of problems where some of our guys were out of their gaps. We kept playing hard and fought back – we just came up a little short.”

(On coming back from 21-point deficit): “I felt our leaders did a good job getting us back into the game. We had a few opportunities late where we did not capitalize. I thought our defense played hard and made some plays. We have to get back to work and get ready for Kentucky next Saturday.”

#70 Nick Jones, OL

“This loss hurts. It feels even worse because we fought back so hard and came up short. This loss is hard for me and the rest of the seniors because this is our last opportunity to play Florida.” “I was proud of our team for not giving up. Even when things seemed bad, we kept fighting and got back into the game. We never gave up.”

Coach Meyer: “Today was a great effort by our defense. They held a talented Georgia team and their tremendous young
quarterback to only 215 yards of offense. Our defense played very hard tonight.”

On the lack of throwing the deep ball:

“They played a soft coverage and it is hard to throw it down field when you see the soft coverage. We called some plays down field, but (Chris) Leak saw four defenders deep and had to check down. We need to establish the run and protect our quarterback to open the gaps downfield.”

On freshman Brandon James:

“He is a tremendous and dynamic player. He was able to get a punt into the end zone. Unfortunately, the play was nullified by a silly penalty.”

On the captains for the game:

“We selected the guys based on being from Jacksonville. (Kenneth) Tookes, (Marcus) Thomas, and Reggie (Lewis) were all from Jacksonville and the coaches felt it was appropriate to select them as captains for this game.”

On the SEC East race:

“We are officially in the hunt for the SEC East title. We need to get our mistakes fixed this week and then get out there and beat Vanderbilt next week.”

On the Andre Caldwell’s battle back from injury:

“Andre has turned into a primo player. He is tremendous and dynamic when he gets the ball. As a coaching staff, we work hard to find ways to get the ball in his hands.”

On DeShawn Wynn’s limited playing time:

“He did not play for three- and-a-half quarters, but he got in my face and told me to get him the ball. In the past I probably would not have listened to him, but he has proved to me I can trust him. He has been banged up lately and was not at 100 percent. This next week it will be a main focus of ours to get him the ball more.”

Senior Quarterback Chris Leak

On the seniors being 3-1 against Georgia: “We’re proud and happy to be part of the Florida-Georgia rivalry. We had two great weeks of practice and the guys came out and played hard.”

On the offensive problems: “There are going to be momentum shifts. As a team and as leaders, you have to make sure everybody stays focused and keeps playing through those shifts and get back on track and try to get the momentum go back your way. We have a lot of talent on this team. We just have to keep getting the ball to the right guys and let guys go make plays.”

On Junior WR Andre Caldwell: “When Andre is able to play fast, a guy with his speed puts a lot of pressure on the defense and makes them have to cover the entire field. The safety on the touchdown tried to double Dallas and Bubba came open and slipped past the linebacker and I found him in a hole. He did a great job breaking the tackle and getting into the end zone.”

Freshman Quarterback Tim Tebow

On the offense: “We’ll have to sit down and watch the film to figure it out. We’ll just work it out and execute, buckle down and fix it.”

On the penalties: “It gets loud and that may have something to do with it. I try to concentrate and just keep playing our plan.”

On the defense: “They played phenomenal. They shut Georgia down and played a great game.”

Junior Wide Receiver Andre Caldwell

On his game performance: “I’m back and ready to play ball. I’m out here making plays and trying to help my team. I got everything back, confidence and all. ”

On the possibility of playing for a SEC Championship: “It hasn’t happened in a long time. It feels good that we might be playing for a championship. We have a lot of improvement to make though. We’ll go week-by-week.”

Junior Cornerback Ryan Smith

On the offense struggling: “When we see the offense struggling, we (the defense) know we have to put it in another gear. I made a couple of plays here and there, but being around the ball is always good.”

On the team’s confidence: “Our confidence is increasing with each game, but we knew from the start we had a good defense.”

Georgia head coach Mark Richt

“We couldn’t get a whole lot going offensively in the first half. But in the second half we turned it around. They missed a field goal and we got some points on the board but just couldn’t get it done. Some things happened that hurt us. The punt that touched our blocker gave them the ball and we lost momentum. Even on that last stop we got a face mask.

“It comes down to this; we turned it over five times again and you just won’t beat anyone doing that. “I don’t feel good about this. I don’t enjoy losing to the Gators. But I will say this, when most teams would lie down and die, this team didn’t. We’ve got some guys with great character. I’m proud of them and proud to be a Bulldog.”

#7 Matthew Stafford, QB

“I am proud of the way our team played today and how we fought back. We had some unlucky bounces late in the game, but we played hard. Our defense did a great job today and they kept us in the ballgame. I am proud of everyone’s effort today.”

“We only had the ball one time while we were down 21-14 and we did not capitalize on it.”

(Thoughts on Florida Defense): “Florida has a great defense. They were fresh early on and they were able to make some plays. (Reggie) Nelson is a ballhawk in the secondary, so we definitely had to keep an eye out for him. They are a great defensive unit that sometimes gets overshadowed because of their offense.”

#8 Paul Oliver, DB

(On defensive performance in the second half): “We made some adjustments during the half and fixed a couple of problems where some of our guys were out of their gaps. We kept playing hard and fought back – we just came up a little short.”

(On coming back from 21-point deficit): “I felt our leaders did a good job getting us back into the game. We had a few opportunities late where we did not capitalize. I thought our defense played hard and made some plays. We have to get back to work and get ready for Kentucky next Saturday.”

#70 Nick Jones, OL

“This loss hurts. It feels even worse because we fought back so hard and came up short. This loss is hard for me and the rest of the seniors because this is our last opportunity to play Florida.” “I was proud of our team for not giving up. Even when things seemed bad, we kept fighting and got back into the game. We never gave up.”